Interactivism

Some Interactivist Maxims

Listen To Everything
Copy With Love
Hurry, Before it is Too Late
Protect Relationships Not Ideas
Activate Networks With Experiences
Activate Experiences With Networks
Battles or Bridges
Question Literate Tools and Rules
Put an End to Terminal Thinking
You Are Your Media

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The above image is a promotional still from the Netflix series Sense8, made by the Wachowski sisters (formerly the Wachowski brothers). I wrote about this amazing series here. The reason I chose this image for the section on Interactivism, is that Sense8 and the Wachowski’s work in general – like The Matrix – is all about building bridges between different people and cultures through hacking into and rethinking human technologies. It is about reorienting ourselves to renew our humanity in this hyper-technological age. And even though I’m not proposing erotic bridges, this image captures the essence of what is needed, a deep openness to others and an embrace of non-traditional ways of self-organizing.

Interactivism’s core premise is that the greatest transformative potential for any social initiative lies in creating feedback loops between OS1 (Oral) and OS3 (Digital) cultures and systems in order to disrupt the hegemony of OS2 (Literate) culture and power

Still, Interactivism only provides a useful framework for understanding the future and how to shape it. It can’t provide the will power to implement bold new interactivist strategies that may overcome OS2’s ecocidal trajectory.